


Set Free

by llxcifer



Series: Chronicles of Trees and Leaves [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, Aged-Up Character(s), Aged-Up Naruto, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, Multi, Shinobi, Shinobi Politics (Naruto), kakashi's daughter, other villains - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:14:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23819701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llxcifer/pseuds/llxcifer
Summary: "Where I come from, we are taught by the elders that chakra is more than meets the eye. Though it rests in our system, in our chakra coils, there is another energy in our soul that can fuel our jutsu, something that has equal potential for each living entity. It is a turmoil in our chest and it is the giver of strenght, but we may never access it without a proper knowledge. Such power was said to be unacceptable, and yet here we stand." - Mother's Journal
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Rock Lee, Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s), Uzumaki Naruto/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Chronicles of Trees and Leaves [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716265
Kudos: 2





	1. The Blood Path

DARKNESS CREPT FROM ALL corners and tingled on the chains. They hardened by the pain they held. In the far end of the room, next to a wall painted in blood, splattered, a thin figure was captured by all the chains holding onto her ankles, her wrist.

Dark hair hanged in front of her face as she looked at the concrete beneath. Her blood has been added to the collection of the torment wall and now, the red liquid dripped to her chin. The skin used to be pale, yet now, from portion to portion large bruises gave purple, blue and green hues. Cuts found themselves at home everywhere they could reach.

When the sound of steps filled the tall large chamber, white sandals clicking on the dark concrete, the kneeling woman found the strenght in her to plaster a dark grin on her bloody lips. She looked up in mockery, through her sweat binded strands of hair. One of her eyes barely saw right anymore, swollen.

The tall figure was a pale man in white clothes with fully black eyes and a single speck of devilish green in them. "Fukuzawa...," he spoke in a hiss, showing her a toothless grin.

"Damn, you're ugly," the girl answered in her usual sarcasm and spite, something that seemed to have always been in her for those that knew her too little. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she coughed and bent over, spitting some blood to the ground. Her throat was soar, thirsty.

The man before her, Lord Akamatsu, chuckled, "You still think you are getting out of this alive?"

"And you still don't...," her words came out rougher than her real voice. This time, however, Yoko no longer found in herself the will to look at him. Her shoulders slumped forward heavily, her hands begging for the chains to let them touch the ground and the much needed rest.

"Tell us the way to the Ethereum," Akamatsu spoke emotionless. Behind his stern behaviors, a malicious side hid in plain sight. He wanted her to refuse him once again, because he knew that if she did, she would most certainly die. Even ninjas have their limits. Even those like her.

Yoko looked at the ground. Drops of her blood stood over its dark hues like a symphony of darkness. If she looked close enough, her unfocused mind could have sworn she saw her reflection in the surface beneath: beaten, chained, bruised and on the verge of death itself.

"No," she closed her teary eyes, embracing the pain that came with the defiance in her tone.

But no impact came. Nothing that she couldn't fight back stroke her. And the only thing that made her look up again was another voice.

"Yoko..."

"Ma!"

Recognizing the voice as belonging to the only woman that had a parental value to her life, her sensei and her protector, Yoko pushed from her position panicked. Anger was once again fueling her veins as the chains restricted her from reaching Mako.

"Any last words?" Akamatsu interrupted the sad reunion by putting the edge of his dual spear to Mako's chin, not even bothering to stand aside.

Her sensei was just as beaten as her. This was a whole different type threatening. So far, Yoko has believed her mentor was far and safe, trying to find a way to protect what they have discovered. And that only created some type of safety in her mind that apart from her body, they couldn't harm her in any way.

That safety shattered as, mindlessly, the young shinobi struggled against the chain retaining her, trying to have her hands find their way together, trying to do something.

"Let me go, Yo..."

Metal slashed and flesh was pierced. One end of Akamatsu's sword went through Mako's shull, coming out again, flat through her face.

"No!" Yoko screamed her lungs out with fresh tears streaming and mixing with the blood on her cheeks. She pushed hard in her heels but the chains pulled her back with a firm metal sound. Her knees collapsed on the ground and she once again looked down.

Another shadow of red was added to the darkness.

"Tell us, Fukuzawa. We killed your village, we killed your sensei... we won't hesitate to kill you and move on with the search," Akamatsu admitted. "It would be such a pitty for your potential to go to waste like this, just for the sake of stubbornness."

"Kill me?" Yoko huffed a laugh, between tears and gritted teeth. "Unfortunately you need me."

"I only need what's in your mind," Akamatsu responded without hesitation, nonchalantly. With a gesture of his slender hand, with long fingers like bones alone, a wind went through the room and on her perfect view to the floor, came a new pair of feet.

Before Yoko could properly react, she looked up to a man. He mastered a shinobi posture that demanded respect and fear.

His cold hands pressed to her temples in a heartbeat. Her mind resistance would have usually put up a bit of fight, but with the sorrow in her chest and her limbs trembling from pressure, Yoko found herself remembering all sorts of things.

From meditating on top of hills like the energetic child she used to be to... A tremor went through her entire body. A blonde child smiled in her memories. A nice village warmed her chest. Ma's face was shown to her. And then... the village was on fire. The people were burning.

It was rage first. Then came the pain. Yoko might have shouted, but her battle cry was muffled by the scream of pain from the shinobi who took his hands off her, grabbing his own eyes.

"What happened?" Akamatsu took a step back as he received his answer when his trusty Shioko looked at him with his eyes burnt out, bleeding. And when the Lord looked back to the chains and the Blood Wall, the metal fell molten to the black floor, no one to retain in them.

__________________________________________

"WHY US?" NARUTO complained, placing his hands to the back of his neck. He walked with his feet slightly dragging, along Sasuke and Sakura. He took a deep breath then sighed loud enough to raise the raven haired boy's nerves.

"Be any louder and we could as well be the targets of whoever we were sent after."

"What are we after anyway?" Naruto scoffed. He wasn't buying neither Sakura's love for the job, nor Sasuke's need to stick to the order following and the etiquette of their title.

"The locals of the area have complained about trails of blood through the forest...," Sakura looked around, speaking calmly to the always exaggerating boys she grew to enjoy the company of through the years.

"It could be just an animal," Naruto shook his head and let his arms fall on either sides of his body. "We are always sent on such useless things!" he suddenly exclaimed and jumped, to walk with the face at his friends and teammates, and the back at the path they were taking.

"Maybe because we have you with us!" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Naruto was just about to give voice to his glare when metal slashed through the trees, cutting the air.

The trio's battle senses were alerted and the blonde boy in the middle spun around in a fraction of second. The shuriken coming for his head was stopped between two fingers of his.

"Where did that come from?" Sasuke looked up, whispering. But whatever Sakura had to add to that, it faded away for Naruto. He looked at the shuriken he caught. He turned it on all sides and a pit formed in his stomach once he realized he recognized it's sloppy form.

"It can't be...," his blue eyes widened.

"What happened, Naruto?" Sakura furrowed her eyebrows quizzically, as he looked around.

"This...," he showed them the metal weapon and Sasuke quickly observed the unusual shape.

"Odd."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "I only knew one person who had these..." Without even explaining himself, he looked at one side of the not so dense forest and followed his instinct by pushing into his heels and disappearing in that direction, in a hurry.

Sakura and Sasuke were on his tail when another shuriken attacked them in a clearing, missing the raven haired boy by inches. He always seemed to have a special talent for dodging things.

"Don't come any closer, I have other things to throw," a tired voice sounded from the bushes, echoing in the trees.

But that was the last proof Naruto needed. His chest filled with confusion and hope and disbelief. His knees felt weak and he took a step forward, in the light, "Yoko?" he called.

There was silence.

"Naruto, what do you think...?" Sakura tried to get him back to a hiding spot, concerned and angry of his recklessness. Just then, from the tree before them, a woman jumped down, landing seemingly fine until she inevitably yelped, falling back.

She was wounded, bleeding. Sakura noticed all the wounds with only one look.

"The blood path was..."

Her words remained suspended in air as Naruto dropped the shuriken from his hand and hurried by Yoko's side. He was finally able to recognize her. Even after all the years that washed over them, aging both into the young adults they were now, he recognized her.

"Long time no see," Yoko looked weakly up at a speechless and concerned Naruto, a grin on her thin lips.


	2. Remembrance and Warnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoko is welcomed in Konoha again, which gives everyone some time to ask Naruto all about "their past".

**IT SMELLED AS CLEANNESS,** if that state even had a scent. Yoko could feel the events as they happened, in her bones. They were just an echo, in her mind: she was overwhelmed by the pain and she collapsed the moment her childhood memory helped her from the ground.

Blinking slowly, the girl's hands curled underneath the sheets she has been carefully placed beneath. The bed was hard under her, but the feeling of rest was something her muscles ached for too long not to enjoy it now.

However, the moment she tried to stand, a voice cut through the silence of the nursing chamber.

"I wouldn't recommend moving."

The simple, masculine tone mixed with her sudden muffled yelp and she sat back into the pillow. Her eyes eagerly searched the room until they fell on a dark haired boy.

Sasuke looked at her neutrally, in a side glance, interrupting his contemplative stare at the window. He sat in wooden chair. "You were severely wounded and they couldn't heal you completely. Move too much and you'll bleed yourself to death."

"I can almost bet I bled more than you, thank you," Yoko huffed, her tiredness washed away for the sake of irony. "And what? You've been there, staring at me the whole time? I'd like to know your name before we get this personal."

_If Naruto was angrier, this would be how he talked,_ Sasuke mentally sighed to that thought. His team was held accountable for bringing a stranger into the village, but at the mannerism and dramatic scenes of Naruto, the Hokage allowed her stay _only_ if they could all deliberately vouch for her.

They did.

Another sigh escaped Sasuke's parted lips, without even realizing he let silence build up between them. He just recalled all the crazy things that happened in these days while Yoko was recovering.

"How do you know Naruto?" his voice finally beamed through the peacefulness of hearing the birds sing outside. Yoko hasn't heard them in so very long.

It was her time to sigh now.

She couldn't have possibly known that Naruto was questioned by Sakura too, and that was his same reaction as well. This other duo was standing on some swings, in the small park. With their unexpected need to vouch for someone, they weren't given any other missions, so time passed by slower.

"Yoko...," Naruto trailed off. Sakura was watching him, careful enough to notice that small smile lifting just a bit the corners of his mouth. She observed that this must have been one of his happy memories.

"We were both quite young when we met," his blue eyes looked happily to the horizon, his hands slumped in his lap and feet grazed the sand beneath the swing. "Before the academy got annoying," he added. "We were both probably around six or seven..."

The pink haired girl listened patiently to this story as Naruto went on, in a calm voice, unlike most of his amusing and entertaining stories. "She came with an odd letter in town, all on her own. She was staying with the Hokage then, from what I remember."

"With the Hokage?" Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. _She might have been quite a big deal at that age...,_ she thought.

Naruto just shrugged, "Don't ask me why. I barely asked her anything in that week she stayed here either way."

"Only one week?" she questioned again, more and more confused. Judging by their reunion in the forest, she would have thought they had at least a year of history. But just a week?

"The best week of my life," to her surprise, Naruto suddenly beamed with a big smile at her. "We met on the playground. She was very good at making flower crowns back then and she made some for the girls and boys. Someone, however, started a fight. And when I was about to interfere..."

_A typical Naruto thing to do at six years old..._ Sakura mentally noted, unimpressed.

"I had nothing to interfere in. That boy was running away, quite scared. I still have no idea how she managed that..."

"Huh? That's odd.."

"Aha," Naruto interrupted, proudly placing his hands on the back of his neck, relaxing in a straight posture. "I knew that very moment that I had to be friends with this new girl. And that was easy, because she..."

"She didn't know you like everyone else?" Sakura finally smiled along the story.

Naruto simply shrugged. It was true, that was his thought back then... that no one would ever befriend him, because everyone seemed to be happy just with the rumours.

"She became my friend, we taught each other a couple of things... I had no idea it was possible to learn easily until she was my partner in doing so," he took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. His gaze fell to the ground beneath.

"And then, one night, I woke up with a big... explosion?" He seemed confused about what happened too. "There were shouts, arguments, and all I remember is seeing from my window how a Jonin, a woman, was taking Yoko away. There was no fire anywhere, no sign of a fight... but I know what I heard."

The same story was heard by Sasuke. He was less touched by it. Yoko's tone was dreamy, falling into the remembrance of her last days as someone free.

"Then what happened?" the raven haired boy crossed his arms at his chest after having helped the girl sit up against her pillow. "If there wasn't a fight, nor an explosion... what was it?"

"You wouldn't understand. No one ever lets us understand things like that..."

By now, something was clear to Sasuke, the quiet observer: Yoko spoke more like a Jōnin than as a girl the same age as him. She had the wisdom of sorrow and loss in her eyes, but not in the shape of anger, as any usual teen, but more in the shape of the quietness. The quiet before the storm. He liked that, though he, himself, would rather find comfort in rage.

He just had begun wondering what exactly happened to this girl to forge her into someone with so much raw potential. But then, a shift in the air of the room happened and Naruto burst in, greeting them both with wide eyes.

"Yoko, you're awake..."

Sasuke straightened up and stretched his arms above his head, "You can take over with your shift now, I am tired." He admitted nonchalantly and nodded with neutrality at the blonde. Sasuke exited the room and the door closed behind him.

Finally, the song of the birds was heard by the girl again. Her eyes were fixed on Naruto's and he looked at her without being able to move. He felt trapped between more than just one emotion. The calm and lack of feeling in her dark eyes unsettled him.

"Where have...?"

"We don't have time for this," Yoko cut him off before he could even finish his question. It was as if she already knew what he wanted to say. Now, that definetely angered Naruto and he glared her way, out of instinct.

"You leave one night without saying goodbye and we don't see each other for twelve years. I think we have plenty of time to talk about how you left a trail of your own blood through the forest! That was reckless and so unlike you!"

"Maybe I wanted to be found," Yoko remained dismissive, watching his features change between anger and concern. Finally, her next move puzzled him: she smiled.

"What...?"

"I've missed you," she laughed lightly. But Naruto's instinct of smiling right back to her was short lived once the girl grimaced, holding her side. He rushed by her side and took the seat next to her bed. He turned to her eagerly.

"Tell me who did this."

Yoko looked up, confused by the determination in his eyes. _We have only been friends for one week and yet, after twelve years, he is determined to help me? What a fool...,_ Yoko thought.

She shook her head, "The same person that now knows too much."

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head to the side. He rested his hands on the margins of his seat.

"They had a ninja who could get into other people's thoughts. He got into mine and the last thought he captured from me was our meeting when we were kids. He saw you, Naruto. And he saw these streets," Yoko sighed. "I couldn't take him out while I made my escape so Lord Akamatsu knows about us knowing each other."

"Lord Akamatsu...," Naruto repeated, serious, tasting that name on his lips.

Yoko nodded along, "He's a dangerous man, Naruto. One of the most dangerous Jonin that have separated from his village. He wears no symbol and he works only for himself. Now, he's ruling over those that have joined his quest for power. He has an army..."

"Ha!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, making Yoko dart her eyes at him, just in time to see his confidence vibrate through his smile. "This Akamatsu might have an army, but we are the best ninjas, he'll never find you..."

"Don't be an idiot!" she cut him off, leaving him speechless, right in the middle of his boosting. "I came here only to warn you. The longer I stay here, the more I put you in danger. Lord Akamatsu will send his people only to scout at first. He won't attack for another month at least. But when he does, if I am here, he'd have known all about you, all about the people who defend Konoha."

"Impossible," Naruto shook his head. "You are still wounded and I am not letting you go anywhere in this state."

He got up from his seat, unable to process the warning of the girl. They met when she used to smile more often and joke all the time. This Yoko was different.

And that thought was proved and solidified as a common truth, because she stood up, despite her wounds and bandages, just to prove a point. Her knees immediately started shaking, but she looked more determined than ever at Naruto.

"I am not the girl you knew, just like you are no longer that child. I am telling you, let me get out of here or there will be war coming towards this village."

Naruto's eyes widened. She was barely holding herself together, but she stood up, still. He understood then: she had lost things. Just like him. He could finally relate and he wished he could just pull his oldest, his first friend, into a hug. She looked like she needed it.

"If I let you go, whoever they are, they'll capture you and they will get exactly what they want. I can't lose you again. And...," he interrupted himself, shaking his head.

Finally, Yoko tightened her fists and closed her eyes in pain, collapsing back into the low bed. "Fine." She agreed too easily, even for ehr own like. But looking him in the eyes and telling him she had to leave was harder than she expected. And she would have been a liar if she didn't admit it hurt her. "I will stay, but only until I can walk, you hear me, blondie?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here it is, second chapter, after a long long time. I hope you are all enjoying the story

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is not the anime/manga, I won't entirely follow the canon and basically, much of their information will be replaced by my own stories, so yeah: highly au. Also, expect blood, violence, gore, mature topics, debates about the shinobi system etc..
> 
> In this au, Naruto's generation is 18, aka they have all been aged-up.


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